Becoming Mrs. Lewis Book Review
About the Book
In a most improbable friendship, she found love. In a world where women were silenced, she found her voice.
From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.
In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice—and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had.
At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story—a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all.
My Thoughts
Having never read a single book by C.S. Lewis but a longtime fan of the Narnia movies, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this fictional glimpse into the lives of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. Theirs was a love story not in the traditional sense, but one that developed through friendship, work, family drama, and health crises. Their respect for one another poured out through their letters, their critiques of each other’s writings, and ultimately, him marrying her so she would not be deported from England.
Probably what I enjoyed most was seeing how flawed Joy was. So often, we read fiction and the characters are ones that we can’t relate with. Since this was a retelling of the life of an actual person, I empathized with her story so much more. She lived much of her life as an atheist, and the moment she came to Christ, she endeavored to learn more of Him. Her sudden desire to correspond with C.S. Lewis helped her understand more of this new relationship she had with God. That’s not to say that life didn’t continue to go on as usual. She still struggled with the same problems – both her own personal ones and ones in her marriage. Kudos to the author for not glossing over Joy’s sinful nature and showing that troubles are still present even to those who are children of God.
Some reviews have stated that the audiobook narration was not to their standards, but I disagree. I believe that I had I read this book rather than listened to it, I would not have enjoyed it as much. The narrator smoothly switched back and forth between American and British accents to match the character she was speaking for. Truly well done.
A side note for readers of Christian fiction – be advised that there is some bad language throughout the book.
4 Stars
About the Author
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels and podcast host. She is the recipient of The Christy Award — A 2019 Winner “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020 and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for 2019. She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti is also a contributor to the weekly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. A full-time author and mother of three children, she now resides in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.
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**Jewelry designs will be coming for this book very soon!
